Ghosts, Spirits, and Things That Go Bump in the Night
When I began writing the Deputy Tempe Crabtree
series, my plan was to incorporate a great deal of Native American legends and
mysticism. Tempe, who is part Indian, is the resident deputy of a small mountain
community. In early books, Tempe participates in several Indian rituals and
ceremonies to help solve a crime. When Tempe calls back someone from the dead
to find out the truth about a suicide and a murder in Calling the Dead, a door
is opened to the spirit world.
From then on, she has unexpected visits from spirits
of murder victims, sometimes offering confusing information that is at first
not particularly helpful to solving the crimes. She’s also had many visions of
Indians from the past.
In Spirit Shapes a body is found by
ghost hunters in a haunted house. When Tempe is called to investigate, she
faces an onslaught of spirits and ghosts. Some of the spirits are evil—and the
ghosts are victims of crimes from the past.
In the book that follows, River Spirits, a movie
company is filming on the nearby Indian reservation and one of the actors is
found dead. While hoping to trap the murderer, Tempe is guided by unusual spirits
that rise from the river called Bear Creek.
Not
as it Seems is the latest in the series. Tempe and
her husband go to Morro Bay to attend their son’s wedding and enjoy a much
needed vacation. Her son asks her to try to find the missing maid-of-honor, and
of course Tempe agrees. When the young woman turns up as a ghost, Tempe knows
she’s been murdered and continues the investigation. She has no idea what all
of her encounters with Indian spirits from the past could possibly mean.
My Rocky Bluff P.D. series is a police procedural
and has had nothing to do with ghosts until the last one, Violent Departures. When
Detective Doug Milligan and his family move into their new house, it isn’t long
before they realize it has another occupant, a ghost. Even though the youngest
member of the family has had conversations with the spirit, Doug is reluctant
to believe in the phenomena. What happens is a side plot to the main story.
I’ve always been fascinated by ghost stories and
haunted houses. Hubby and I have stayed in several haunted hotels, even once in
the room that was purported to be haunted. However, I’ve never seen a ghost
though my grandkids all think the old house that we live in is haunted.
Oh, I’ve had many eerie experiences over the years,
but no ghost sightings. I have lots of fun writing about what I think it might
be like.
If you visit my website, you can read the first chapters of most of my books.
I also have a blog where I too host authors and write about various subjects.
If you’ve ever had a ghostly encounter, tell us
about it here in a comment.
